|
Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2013 19:37:25 GMT -5
I did mix the kibble soup with the raw soup and he wouldn't try it. But he would try the raw soup only out of my hand. still trying to move it to my spoon. Im extremely sorry ive been so busy with lacrosse lately.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2013 21:07:48 GMT -5
I ran out of soupie so I just thought hey let me just throw acouple chunks of rabbit in simons cage and he licked them FOREVER! I left for a little and when I got back he was chewing one aggressively so he did eat it. For what I saw he ate 3 1'/1' chunks
|
|
|
Post by katt on Apr 5, 2013 22:04:36 GMT -5
Oh yay! Good boy! That is great! Keep a close eye on him to make sure he is still eating and as long as he continues to eat the chunks, continue offering those.
|
|
|
Post by katt on Apr 6, 2013 11:19:16 GMT -5
Did he eat more chunks?
|
|
|
Post by katt on Apr 7, 2013 12:24:16 GMT -5
bump
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2013 20:20:26 GMT -5
yes still eating the chunks not a lot but were getting there. when he chews it almost looks like hes chewing gum. I am sure he ate the chunks though because I saw him pick it up, chew, swallow, then get more
|
|
|
Post by katt on Apr 11, 2013 1:41:57 GMT -5
Good! I am glad he is actually eating them. Keep feeding them and his jaw strength will build. Are the chunks still mixed into soup, or is he eating them on their own? Start to sloooooowwwly increase the size of the chunks. Also, if you have not already, try different types of meat and see how he does. Keep watching to make sure is is actually eating it. Like you said, chew, swallow, back for more. Some ferrets have been known to fake it. Brats.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2013 19:14:23 GMT -5
Eating them on its own I would put it up against the cage he would lick then chew then swallow and then ask for more. slowly progressing
|
|
|
Post by katt on Apr 11, 2013 22:49:22 GMT -5
Good, good boy! What types of meat chunks will he eat so far? How big? Will he eat them on his own, or only hand fed? Have you made any progress on the menu?
|
|
|
Post by katt on Apr 13, 2013 3:36:06 GMT -5
bump
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2013 21:22:08 GMT -5
I need help on the menu he will eat rabbit chunks (little half inch by half inch chunks) and I tried chicken but he will only lick them. Tank also seemed to stop eating his meat. I mean he eats it but not nearly as much as normal. Is it because its spring out?
|
|
|
Post by katt on Apr 15, 2013 0:48:27 GMT -5
I need help on the menu he will eat rabbit chunks (little half inch by half inch chunks) and I tried chicken but he will only lick them. Tank also seemed to stop eating his meat. I mean he eats it but not nearly as much as normal. Is it because its spring out? It could be. My boys are in spring mode. Just keep an eye on them. I thought I had posted menu instructions, but I guess not. Sorry! The menu should provide them with a minimum (more is better) of 3 proteins (such as pork, chicken, and beef). It should be 10% organs (half liver, half other organs), 10% heart, 10-15% bone, and the rest non-heart muscle meat (including gizzards). If you are feeding 2 meals a day, 10% is 1.5 meals So that means in one week you should have: 1.5 meals of half liver half other organ 1.5 meals of half heart 7-9 meals containing edible bone
|
|
|
Post by katt on Apr 15, 2013 0:50:13 GMT -5
Here are some menus from graduated mentees... Feed them heart at least 1-2 times a week so that they are getting the taurine that they need. And organs should be 10% of the diet. Ideally the organ meat should be half liver, and the other half a variety of things such as: kidney, spleen, and brain. Here are some example menus. Your final menu should look something like these... SUNDAY: AM- Cornish Hen: Wings , rib cage and diced meat PM- elk tendons and commerical Duck patties (pretty sure the Duck patties have bone in them, not sure about organs - yet to pick them up) MONDAY: AM - Organs (chicken liver, hopefully other types of liver, beef organ patties eventually and pork brain - what other organs do they need? spleen? kidney?) And I realize they are going to have nasty poops ;D Do I give a whole bunch of organs at once or alternate them each week? Is it better to split this into two meals? PM - Cornish Hen: Legs, back and diced meat (basically the rest of the cornish hen from Sunday) TUESDAY: AM - Pork Muscle Meat (depending on what I have on hand this will be one or more of the following: pork tenderloin, pork chops, pork ribs - they don't really eat the bones so it counts as muscle meat, pork belly sliced - it looks like unseasoned bacon, the closest thing I could find to what you described) PM - Hearts and chicken necks(Chicken hearts for now, but hopefully I can get pork and beef hearts too) WEDNESDAY: AM - Goat meat (stewing goat chunks/some bone, commercial ground goat/includes organs) PM - Chicken wings and chicken backs THURSDAY: AM - Turkey Necks and split turkey wings PM - Hearts and chicken gizzards(hopefully a different kind of heart from what they had earlier in the week) FRIDAY: AM - Lamb meat and bones (commercial ground lamb/includes organs, and lamb bones to chew on - don't think they can eat these, just suck the marrow out) PM - Whole Quail (bone in) cut into smaller chunksSATURDAY: AM - Hearts (hopefully different from whatever kind of hearts they got earlier in the week - if I could go pork hearts one meal, chicken hearts one meal and beef hearts one meal I think I'd be set and wouldn't have to supplement with Taurine? Or should I get taurine supplements anyways?) PM - Commerical rabbit meat (ground carcass with bone- I too think this includes organs but let me know if you find out) I do want to get Beef in there somewhere too once I can get them eating it. I actually bought veal cutlets and am going to try them with veal first and then work my way up to the beef ;D Also possibly work frozen thawed mice in eventually, but I think for now that's a decent menu? Okay sounds good, I added more bone to the menu, I was so glad to hear that I could use them more than once For some reason some meats (even the obvious ones) are hard to find here Oh well, let me know what you think, again Fifth ferret menu.Monday: turkey breast, turkey necks, heart Tuesday: gizzards, pork loin chop meat, chicken wings Wednesday: chicken feet, salmon Thursday: heart, veal- only meat, chicken drumstick or thigh (bone broken up) Friday: liver, chicken ribs Saturday: heart, chicken or turkey neck Sunday: chicken wings, heart, and beef sirloin I will also switch out some of these meats for bison, lamb, and other fish (such as whitefish, halibut, and tilapia) I noticed the local market has duck feet and head, as well as pig face which appears to have meat, fat, skin, and cartilage. My fuzzes already love eating the bones in chicken feet so I bet duck feet would be a no-brainer. I could incorporate those, to get this: Third draft: Monday morning - Mousey (whole, jumbo mice) Monday night - Rabbit legs or ribcage (I forget which I have left) Tuesday morning - Chicken hearts Tuesday night - Chicken wings Wednesday morning - Turkey neck Wednesday night - Turkey back and ribs Thursday morning - Duck hearts with chicken feet Thursday night - Pig heart with chicken feet Friday morning - Chicken back & breast Friday night - Pig face Saturday morning - Beef heart with duck feet Saturday night - Beef heart with duck feet Sunday morning - Chicken liver & gizzard Sunday night - Turkey liver & gizzard What do you think? Today is beef chunks and some left over ground turkey. There is some pork on sale for $1.29 a lb, so I am going to pick some of that up this weekend. I'm not sure if you saw my "Diet of mostly rodents" thread. I definitely want to do mostly whole prey eventually. The cost right now isn't necessarily feasible, but that is my eventual goal. With my girls pickiness, I don't think large whole prey will be an option for a bit. If I just put a rabbit in front of them they will pick and choose what they want. But with smaller whole prey, that is much harder What do you think of this diet: Monday: Mice Tuesday: Rats Wednesday: Bone in meal Thursday: Hamsters Friday: Gerbils Saturday: Bone in meal + extra organs Sunday: Bone out meal Would this be a little better? MONDAY -Chicken wings -Turkey neck TUESDAY -Pork chops -Liver and hearts WEDNESDAY -Quail -Turkey breasts THURSDAY -Hearts, gizzards and kidney/liver -Lamb FRIDAY -Veal and liver -Chicken ribs SATURDAY -Rabbit meat -Chicken wings SUNDAY -Chicken legs -Pork chunks I'll try getting in some more variety, if I can find goat, buffalo, duck, etc...I'll add some in there! I could also try giving them a rat or a mouse here and there but I'm not too comfortable with seeing a ripped open mouse in my cage just yet. ;D When I get more comfortable with prey, I can get some frozen rabbits at my reptile store, I'm sure they would enjoy that. Just a few examples. The ratios should be roughly (as a reminder) 10-15% bone, 10% organ (at least half liver), and 75-80% muscle meat (including heart, and gizzards). Ok a few things. You are still going to need more bone in the diet. Think of how much bone is in each bony item and how that compares to the amount of meat in overall mass. Then shoot for 10-15% bone. Also, just because a bone is not edible does not mean that you cannot offer it, it just means that it doesn't "count." I give my boys pork chops and they will often eat the smaller pieces of bone and suck the marrow out of the thicker parts. It is still good for them to chew on as long as it is not too heavy (beef bones are typically a no-no, most pork bones are okay). With the bigger bones just be sure to remove them after 24 hours as they will begin to dry out and they can crack their teeth on them. Your heart ratios look a bit better. I would make sure that the liver is a significant portion of the meal that day too. If it helps you any (I know it makes it easier for me) think of it this way... 7 days a week x 2 meals a day=> 1 meals a day. So ONE whole meal is going to be slightly less than 10%. 7 days a week x 3 meals a day=> 2 full meals is going to equal almost exactly 10%. They need organ 10-15% bone 10-15% and the remainder should be muscle meat - gizzards and heart are both muscles, and heart should be a significant portion of that. I'd try to shoot for about 10% heart - so 2 meals a week - at least. As long as their poops are solid, more heart never hurts. So as a ROUGH GUIDE: FOURTEEN MEALS One meal organs (1/2 liver, ½ other organ) One meal half heart, half liver One meal hearts The rest of the meals should be mostly muscle meat, including heart, gizzard, and BONE. Let me know if you have any questions on any of that!
|
|
|
Post by katt on Apr 15, 2013 0:55:33 GMT -5
As for introducing other meats, keep working on it. Go back to soup if you need to for those meats and work him up to chunks. So you can either make pork soup and work up to pork chunks, or make the usual soup (chicken is what you have been using right?) and use it like a gravy to entice him to eat the pork chunks. The latter method is usually the better route as it is faster, but with some stubborn ferrets you have to go backwards more. Also, I wonder if perhaps he doesn't care for chicken, or maybe even is tired of it. Try other chunks as well like pork, turkey, beef, lamb, etc. Is he eating organs right now? What type (beef kidney, chicken liver, pork brains?), in what form (soup, chunks?), how often (daily, weekly, 3 meals a week?), and how much (a little organ in the soup that is gravy on his chunks? A whole meal of just organs?)?
|
|
|
Post by katt on Apr 15, 2013 0:56:34 GMT -5
|
|